Book Reviews

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Arts

'A Hundred Thousand Worlds' Might Be A Few Too Many

1:45pm June 29, 2016

by Michael Schaub

Bob Proehl's sprawling novel follows actor Valerie and her son Alex on an epic road trip, punctuated by stops at comic conventions. It's a charming but messy debut that crams in too many ideas.

Books
Arts

'They May Not Mean To, But They Do' Is A Sparkling, Sad Family Affair

1:24pm June 29, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

Cathleen Schine's new novel explores how one character's physical and mental decline ripples out to affect his whole family. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls it a mix of "fun and bad behavior."

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'The Big Sheep' Plays Hardboiled Sci-Fi To The Hilt

10:31am June 29, 2016

by Jason Heller

It's not hard to parse the two main influences on Robert Kroese's new novel, The Big Sheep: Philip K. Dick and Raymond Chandler. But Kroese's knack for humor helps elevate their gonzo grimness.

Books
Arts

'Icon' Keeps The Shutters Clicking And The Danger Growing

11:48am June 28, 2016

by Amal El-Mohtar

We first met diplomat Suyana Sapaki in Persona; she was a C-lister in a world where statecraft and celebrity are interchangeable. But now she's on the rise — and the stakes are getting higher, too.

Books
Arts

A Mystery Novel Is The Mystery At The Heart Of 'Blockbuster!'

7:00am June 26, 2016

by Genevieve Valentine

Lucy Sussex's new book is a history of 1886's runaway bestseller: The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Why was it such a hit? Who was involved with it? And why was author Fergus Hume left without a dime?

Book Review: 'Ninefox Gambit,' By Yoon Ha Lee

Books
Arts

Beautifully Alien 'Ninefox Gambit' Mixes Math And Magic

7:00am June 25, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

Yoon Ha Lee's new novel is hard to sum up — in an alien world so dissimilar to ours its technology seems like magic, reality is a consensus that requires intense, rigid belief to function.

Book Review: 'As Good As Gone' By Larry Watson

Books
Arts

'Good As Gone' Doesn't Quite Get To Greatness

7:00am June 23, 2016

by Michael Schaub

Larry Watson sticks to what he knows and loves in his latest novel: The cinematic badlands of Montana, and a tough, taciturn Western hero. But none of his characters truly rise above ciphers.

Dissapearance At Devil's RockBy Paul Tremblay

Books
Arts

'Devil's Rock' Is An Atmospheric, Gut-Twisting Descent

7:00am June 22, 2016

by Jason Heller

Things are not what they seem in Paul Tremblay's new novel; a simple search for a missing child becomes a dizzying emotional vortex as ominous new details and old tragedies surface.

Book Review: 'Hot Dog Taste Test,' by Lisa Hanawalt.

Books
Arts

Hot Dogs Against Conformity In 'Taste Test'

2:48pm June 21, 2016

by Etelka Lehoczky

If you're the kind of person who'd wear a hot dog costume to a princess party, you'll love Lisa Hanawalt's lushly illustrated, off-the-wall diary/food meditation/travelogue Hot Dog Taste Test.

Books
Arts

Fizzy 'Vinegar Girl' Tames Shrewishness To Sparkle

7:00am June 21, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

Anne Tyler's latest is part of a series of Shakespeare plays-turned-novels; she's turned The Taming of the Shrew into a modern screwball comedy about an absent-minded scientist and his daughters.